Gerald Clayton

Born in Utrecht in 1984 and raised in Southern California in a family of musicians, Gerald Clayton has built his career between Los Angeles and New York, within the trajectory of contemporary American jazz. A pianist and composer and the son of bassist John Clayton, Gerald Clayton has developed a language that blends the legacy of swing and bop, modern harmonies, and a pronounced taste for collective interaction. Trained notably at the University of Southern California and the Manhattan School of Music, he came to attention in the mid-2000s before collaborating widely with artists such as Roy Hargrove, Diana Krall, Terence Blanchard, Dianne Reeves, John Scofield and the Clayton Brothers Quintet, and since 2013 has maintained an ongoing partnership with Charles Lloyd. His leader albums, including Two-Shade (2009), Bond: The Paris Sessions (2011) and Life Forum (2013), reveal a flexible writing style rooted in post-bop and open to more contemporary forms, where composition and improvisation proceed without a fixed hierarchy. In trio settings as well as larger ensembles, Gerald Clayton favors a clear, mobile piano approach attentive to ensemble dynamics.